The Pittsburgh Steelers’ inside linebacker room is well stocked as it is with Patrick Queen, Elandon Roberts, and Payton Wilson leading the group. But they could be regaining another great piece with Cole Holcomb getting closer to a return from a devastating knee injury he sustained at the beginning of last November.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac offered an update on Holcomb during his weekly Steelers chat today.
“Speaking of healthy returns, I was asked last week about the health of ILB Cole Holcomb and how he’s coming along, and I said I didn’t know but I would check,” Dulac wrote. “Well, I can at least tell you his recovery has been outstanding and, to me, from what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t be surprised if they add him back to the roster soon. At this stage of the season, imagine what fresh legs can do for the depth on the inside.”
Holcomb was given a three-year, $18 million contract ahead of the 2023 season. He only got to play in eight games before suffering a knee injury. The Steelers experienced quite a few injuries at the inside linebacker position last season, so it makes sense they doubled down on addressing the position this offseason.
Holcomb was really rounding into form before the injury last year. He was leading the team in tackles with 54, including four tackles for loss, two passes defended and two forced fumbles.
The Steelers could have moved on from him and saved some money this offseason, but they chose to hang onto him. There was thought to be a chance that Holcomb would be ready to participate in training camp, but that wasn’t the case. Because he didn’t practice at all in camp, he was placed on the Reserve/PUP list.
He can be designated to return just like players on IR with a 21-day practice window for the Steelers to activate him. If they open his window, it will burn one of their return designation slots, which they are already running thin on, though they get some more when the playoffs begin.
OT Troy Fautanu could be a candidate to return for the playoffs, but otherwise they don’t have a ton of good uses for the other IR-return slots right now. We saw how quickly a rash of injuries could hit the ILB position a year ago, so getting fresh legs in the mix with Holcomb could be a good idea for the playoff push.
For what it’s worth, Holcomb has been around the team all season. He was spotted multiple times on the first episode of Hard Knocks last week, including on the road in Cincinnati. Reserve/PUP players generally don’t always travel with the team, if that tells us anything.
Holcomb has a roster bonus due in March, and the only way he is likely seeing that is if he returns and cracks the rotation with some solid play at this point.
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